Calwell – Australia 2013

ALP 20.1%

Incumbent MP
Maria Vamvakinou, since 2001.

Map of Calwell's 2010 and 2013 boundaries. 2010 boundaries marked as red lines, 2013 boundaries marked as white area. Click to enlarge.
Map of Calwell’s 2010 and 2013 boundaries. 2010 boundaries marked as red lines, 2013 boundaries marked as white area. Click to enlarge.

Geography
Outer northern suburbs of Melbourne. A majority of the seat covers southern parts of the City of Hume, along with northern parts of the City of Brimbank. Calwell covers the suburbs of Broadmeadows, Sydenham, Taylors Lakes, Keilor, Tullamarine, Broadmeadows, Coolaroo, Meadow Heights, Greenvale and Roxburgh Park, as well as Melbourne Airport.

Redistribution
Calwell previously covered the same boundaries as the City of Hume. Northern parts of the City of Hume, including Sunbury, were transferred to McEwen. Calwell gained northern parts of the City of Brimbank from Gorton and Maribyrnong. This increased the ALP’s margin from 19.7% to 20.1%.

History
Calwell was created for the expansion of the House of Representatives in 1984. It has always been a safe Labor seat.

The seat was first won in 1984 by Andrew Theophanous. Theophanous had previously held Burke since 1980. He served as a Parliamentary Secretary in the final term of the Labor government from 1993 to 1996. He came under fire for allegations of migration fraud. He resigned from the ALP in 2000 and served out his term as an independent, losing in 2001. He later served time in prison.

Calwell was won in 2001 by Maria Vamvakinou, and she has held the seat ever since.

Candidates

  • Brett Watson (Katter’s Australian Party)
  • Paul Graham (Family First)
  • Bryce Letcher (Palmer United Party)
  • Maria Vamvakinou (Labor)
  • Nevena Spirovska (Sex Party)
  • Ali Khan (Liberal)
  • Maria Bengtsson (Australian Christians)
  • Charles Rozario (Rise Up Australia)
  • Omar Jabir Omar (Democratic Labour Party)
  • Joanna Nevill (Greens)

Assessment
Calwell is a very safe Labor seat.

2010 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Maria Vamvakinou ALP 49,580 56.63 -3.59
Wayne Tseng LIB 22,556 25.76 -0.79
Lenka Thompson GRN 10,386 11.86 +7.50
Jeff Truscott FF 3,851 4.40 +0.06
Peter Byrne SEP 1,181 1.35 +1.03

2010 two-candidate-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Maria Vamvakinou ALP 61,045 69.72 +0.39
Wayne Tseng LIB 26,509 30.28 -0.39
Polling places in Calwell at the 2010 federal election. Central in orange, North in green, South in blue. Click to enlarge.
Polling places in Calwell at the 2010 federal election. Central in orange, North in green, South in blue. Click to enlarge.

Booth breakdown
Booths have been divided into three areas: central, north and south. Polling places in the City of Brimbank have been grouped as “South”, and those in the City of Hume are split into “Central” and “North”.

The ALP won a majority in all three areas, varying from 65.3% in the south to 74.8% in the centre.

The Greens vote varied from 9.4% in the south to 12.1% in the centre.

Voter group GRN % ALP 2PP % Total votes % of ordinary votes
Central 12.08 74.75 27,271 37.48
South 9.35 65.33 25,372 34.87
North 10.29 70.93 20,112 27.64
Other votes 13.53 66.59 19,570
Two-party-preferred votes in Calwell at the 2010 federal election.
Two-party-preferred votes in Calwell at the 2010 federal election.
Greens primary votes in Calwell at the 2010 federal election.
Greens primary votes in Calwell at the 2010 federal election.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Surely with a Fedearl Labor Government failing to take retaliatrory action after the largest employer in the electorate sacks its staff the electorate can no longer be regaeded as safe for ALP.

    Sueely for the electorate to be safe it would require the Government to retaliate by banning the import of all Ford products and barring all Ford Managent & Directors from holding similar roles in the future.

    Surely someone who has been sacked by Ford will recognise that it is the failure of the ALP to protect Australian Industry that has resulted in them being on Newstart Allowance?.
    Surely no one receiving Newstart would believe that the ALP candidate is a true Labor Candidare.

    Why is it that the Candidates Website has more about multiculturalism than Ford. Problemn is that Libs and Greens are are worse.
    Andrew Jackson
    apjackson@hotky.net.au

  2. Labor has done far more to protect Australian manufacturing, in particular in the auto industry, than the other option. The Libs have said that they will no longer offer financial support to the auto industry. Labor’s financial support for this industry may not play well everywhere, but I think you’ll find that it’s strongest support is in electorates like Calwell.

    Your other questions are rhetorical at best, but I would venture to say that a government that bans the products of a manufacturer on the basis that the manufacturing of that product is uncompetitive domestically would be a very poor government indeed.

  6. I thought this would swing much more heavily a la 2004, but only an average swing in the end compared to the rest of the state.

Comments are closed.